MAISON the FAUX: a Fashion House Disrupting the Status Quo

The creative fashion studio Maison the Faux is made up of a duo of designers, Joris Suk and Tessa de Boer. Known for their creative runway presentations and gender neutral clothing Maison the Faux is paving the way to a more liberating and inclusive fashion industry. We recently caught up with Joris Suk to learn more about their inspirations and creative process.

We both met during our time studying Fashion Design at Artez in the Netherlands. During our journey, we recognised sharing similar interests and ambitions, an urge to discover the world for ourselves, independently. Harmonising a strong connection and a core base for the birth of Maison the Faux.

What were your artistic inspirations growing up?

Fascinated not only by fashion but more importantly by identity. The identity of how people present themselves has always been an inspiration. The embodiment of their self-expression and attitude has continued to shape and hold a presidential impact to the fundamentals of our creativity.

What was the main inspiration behind your recent collection ‘The Premiere’?

Presenting 3 collections at NYFW, MAISON the FAUX has set up a temporary home in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is the perfect platform to intensify MAISON the FAUX’s obsession with “the fake and constructed”.

In creative collaboration with Maavven and acclaimed choreographer Nina McNeely, MAISON the FAUX set up an immersive performance. Posing the questions: What makes the real, FAUX? And the faux, REAL?

In a town where the spectacle of the carpet seems more important than the actual event, “the PREMIERE” took place on a FAUX red carpet.

The FAUX red carpet was located at the loading docks of NeueHouse at LAFW where crazed fans, deranged celebrities, stylists and paparazzi took over.

“What are you wearing?” – MAISON the FAUX

Humanwear, for the real you!

The AW18 Humanwear collection features all of the components that any stylist will need to make an outfit fitted and easy to return. Each look is “SO original” and perfect for any high-brow-photo-op.

Many of the looks feature embedded clamps so any celeb of any size will be able to wear a fitted MAISON the FAUX piece.

“I wanted to find the most meaningless thing that I could come to and join.. and here I am. You have to admit it’s completely meaningless.” – Jim Carrey

Maison the Faux is very gender neutral and you refer to your clothing as ‘Humanwear’. Can you tell us more about the meaning and concept of ‘Humanwear’?

Humanwear encourages those to be individually expressive and to not be defined by what fashion brands discipline you to be. Throughout the evolution of Maison the Faux we continued to celebrate diversity in identity. As a result, we’ve unfolded into gender equality, never consciously considering to identify with gender. Inclusion is an incremental focus when we create, openly inviting those celebrating identity, expression and the freedom to be.

Maison the Faux is known for its unique and innovative runway presentations. What are the main things you look for in models when casting for a presentation?

We proudly cast models independently, unveiling the personality and true self of the individual. Selecting through agencies one only sees the visual characteristics. The models who wear each piece have to represent and synchronise the message, vibrancy and energy we aim to convey. Agencies are not able to provide us with the same authenticity through imagery.

What’s the hardest part about developing a collection?

Throughout the developing process, we discover powerful and resonating ideas that impact the collection. However, the hardest part is the decision making. Towards the end we find the collection embodying various elements, eliminating some ideas to conclude the core of our message can be difficult.